Construction on the eastern section of the Winston-Salem Urban Loop highway project will begin in 2015, Gov. Bev Perdue announced on Wednesday, ending years of speculation and waiting as the project hung in limbo.

Property owners along the proposed route, which runs from Interstate 40 in Kernersville to Highway 158, have been waiting as state and local governments grappled with a number of obstacles to getting the project under way, including a lawsuit by an environmental group and more recently a lack of funding.

Advertisement

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said Wednesday right-of-way acquisition for the $800 million project will begin next year.

"There are so many property owners who have been in limbo, so they have been stuck," Joines said. "So I'm sure this will be welcome news to them because now they can hopefully get their property purchased."

Joines said the new highway will greatly ease congestion on Highway 52 and will also make it easier for commuters to drive to Greensboro. He said completion of the project will also allow the city to move forward with other economic plans.

Construction was slated to begin in 1999, but a lawsuit put the project on hold. Completion of an environmental study put the project back on pace, but by that point funding had dried up, Joines said. The project has been shelved ever since.